Antitrust officials with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have asked Internet giant Google for more information about its planned acquisition of mobile advertising provider AdMob, indicating the agency is taking a closer look at the deal. Google acknowledged in a blog post the request is the second time the agency has come looking for additional information, and that the company has been working with the FTC over the last few weeks.
In November, Google announced a plan to acquire AdMob for some $750 million in an all-stock deal. Google plans to leverage AdMob’s services and technology to offer advertising both for mobile services as well as within mobile applications for platforms like the iPhone, BlackBerry, and (of course) Google’s own Android platform. Industry watchers see the FTC’s increased scrutiny of the deal as a direct result of Google’s dominance of the Internet search advertising market, as well as Google overall success in recent years. However, the additional review may mean it takes longer for a deal to close, potentially giving competitors more time to respond.
Google has said it does not expect any regulatory issues with the AdMob acquisition.
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